Another year in music has come and gone. And once again DJ Earworm has given us a mash-up that says it all. He has taken the Top 25 hits of 2009, according to Billboard and arranged and mashed them all into one 4 and 1/2 minute song. And I have to say I am pretty impressed that this can be done and made into a reasonably enjoyable song. It even has a bit of a theme and a decent song structure.
But what does that say about the state of pop music, that all of these songs are similar enough to mashed up into one singular song? I don’t think this a completely untalented group of artists. I actually enjoyed a fair amount of these songs this year. But I think it goes to show how much the labels and producers are controlling the sound on these records. It’s no wonder we eat these songs up and then make ourselves so sick of them that we never want to hear them again. Because we’re essentially listening to the same song over and over again. What do you guys think?
Here’s a list of all of the songs included in this year’s mash-up.
The Black Eyed Peas – BOOM BOOM POW
Lady Gaga – POKER FACE
Lady Gaga Featuring Colby O’Donis – JUST DANCE
The Black Eyed Peas – I GOTTA FEELING
Taylor Swift – LOVE STORY
Flo Rida – RIGHT ROUND
Jason Mraz – I’M YOURS
Beyonce – SINGLE LADIES (PUT A RING ON IT)
Kanye West – HEARTLESS
The All-American Rejects – GIVES YOU HELL
Taylor Swift – YOU BELONG WITH ME
T.I. Featuring Justin Timberlake – DEAD AND GONE
The Fray – YOU FOUND ME
Kings Of Leon – USE SOMEBODY
Keri Hilson Featuring Kanye West & Ne-Yo – KNOCK YOU DOWN
Jamie Foxx Featuring T-Pain – BLAME IT
Pitbull – I KNOW YOU WANT ME (CALLE OCHO)
T.I. Featuring Rihanna – LIVE YOUR LIFE
Soulja Boy Tell ‘em Featuring Sammie – KISS ME THRU THE PHONE
Lukasz Sebastian Gottwald, otherwise known as “Doctor Luke” has managed, yet again, to get indie hipsters and radio lovers all across the country to move their feet and swivel their hips with Miley Cyrus’ incredibly catchy and dance-able “Party in the USA.” But for whatever reason, the majority of the people who found themselves dancing to and loving this song last night, will inevitably deny doing so today. Because Miley Cyrus isn’t “cool” or “hip.” Nor is Katy Perry, Britney Spears, or Kelly Clarkson. Yet you know that each of them has released a song in the past year or two that you actually liked. I know this because of the insane amount of remixes from these artists that have been floating around the blogosphere and climbing to the top of the charts on Hype Machine. In fact, right now the #1 most loved track is a mash-up of “Party in the USA” with a Biggie song. Over 2,000 people “loved” this track. I don’t remember the last time I saw a track reach over 2,000. And believe it or not, the main reason you like those remixes, is because there was something great about the song in its original form.
Don’t get me wrong now, I’m not trying to compare any of these girls to the truly great female artists of our time, such as Neko Case, Feist, or Brandi Carlile. For the most part they are nothing more than a pretty face and great voice. But when you add that great voice with some of Gottwald’s hooks and melodies and you’ve got something worth listening to. I’m not saying that you should throw caution to the wind and go buy the new Miley Cyrus record at Wal-Mart (for that is the only place it can be found). That would be foolish. But when Dr. Luke has the chance to get his hands on a single, I am going to pay attention.
So why can’t we just unabashedly own our love for these songs. I’ll go first. I love the new Miley Cyrus single. I don’t care that the lyrics are a little elementary. It makes me dance and puts me in a swell mood. Here are a few other hits that Gottwald had his hands in that I’m not afraid to say that I enjoy, regardless of whether or not Diplo has remixed it yet.
Another B.L.T.N.R.W. (Better late than never Remix of the Week). Gosh I’m so bad about getting disciplined about this. So here it is, you’re saturday night jam.
I’m not gonna lie, this one didn’t do anything for me personally the first few times I heard it, but after listening a few more times I really liked it. The synth is spectacular, and creates a gigantic audible landscape for the sound to reverberate off of.
The song’s original structure feels very repetitive, and it becomes very clear that this is remix was intended as a club mix, and frankly I just want to get up and dance.
I’m gonna be honest, if you’re not a Katy Perry fan this isn’t going to change your mind. But if you enjoy the poppy songstress, this might be the track for you!
Now excuse me while I return to my weekend, I hope your ears have a good weekend. Ω
(P.S. I will be returning to regularly scheduled remixes next week)
Stereogum is doing some awesome things that I wanted to point your attention to. The first one that I want you to take notice of and show your appreciation for is their MySplice project. They just recently released the third installment to download for free. With the help of team9 they have taken some of the best/most popular songs of the year and mashed them together. I’m usually not a fan of mash ups but this project is pretty darn entertaining. Here is a couple of my favorites, if you like them head on over to Stereogum to hear the whole project.
I also want to draw your attention to a new series of stripped down studio sessions called Decomposed. They invite both well-known and up-and-coming artists to drop by and record stripped down, acoustic versions of a couple of their songs. They have only featured two artists so far, but I am already a big fan. Check out this awesome performance by The Uglysuit. You’ll gain an even greater appreciation for these guys after hearing this fantastic perfromance of “Chicago.”
Another year in music has come and gone. And once again DJ Earworm has given us a mash-up that says it all. He has taken the Top 25 hits of 2009, according to Billboard and arranged and mashed them all into one 4 and 1/2 minute song. And I have to say I am pretty impressed that this can be done and made into a reasonably enjoyable song. It even has a bit of a theme and a decent song structure.
